The first aim of oncology is the complete eradication of the tumor by any means, even when this leads to serious side effects; the motto primum non nocere (“first, do no harm”) is not used as a guideline in the treatment of tumors, but has to be replaced with primum succerrere (“first, hasten to help”). Oncological treatment normally involves radical surgery, a targeted radiotherapy including photodynamic treatment, high doses of chemotherapy drugs, radiotherapy, and the maximum tolerated dose of cytokines when patients have serious side effects. In addition to these treatments, it is established practice to administer monoclonal antibodies for specific tumors in combination with chemotherapy, which has side effects similar to those reported for the combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The challenge facing the medical profession is consequently to use all available means to maximize the therapeutic result.
However, current treatments are not sufficiently selective to target the tumor cell alone; chemotherapy also targets all actively proliferating tissues, creating problems in the tissues similar to those caused by radiotherapy. These treatments induce necrotic processes which lead to negative immune responses, and induce serious inflammatory processes.
One of the side effects of radiotherapy, and above all chemotherapy, is mucositis, which normally affects the gastroenteric tract, especially the mouth, esophagus, stomach, intestine and the vagina in women. The colon is involved in most cases, as are other accessible mucous membranes. Furthermore, the treatment of mucositis must be adjusted for each type of chemotherapy or anti-proliferation drug used. Mucositis may also affect the sex organs.
The drugs that mainly cause mucositis are anthracyclines, fluorouracyl, paclitaxel, actinomycin, mithramycin, etoposide, topotecan, amsacrine, methotrexate, hydroxyurea and combinations thereof with other chemotherapy drugs such as the platinum complexes, etc., which are the most common drugs used in oncological treatment.
Mucositis is a serious symptom, which adversely affects the patient's quality of life, as it makes eating difficult, and leads to infections that require the discontinuance of chemotherapy or the replacement of effective constituents of the mixtures, with a consequent reduction in the efficacy of treatment. The combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy causes mucositis in 90% of patients. Mucositis is caused by immune reactions, which are still being researched, together with the direct effect of chemotherapy on actively proliferating tissues. As the mucous membranes are actively proliferating tissues, lesions that form during chemotherapy, due to thinning of the mucous layer, are normally followed by infections of bacterial, fungal and viral origin. In view of the genesis of mucositis, complete treatment generally requires systemic administration of antibiotics, antifungals or anti-inflammatory agents with immunostimulating properties, combined with topical treatments containing compounds that modulate wound-healing and prevent infection.